Early to Rise Experience Day 4…

I find it interesting that this “shrink” type person defines the “How I Feel” part of this little experiment as both a physical and emotional feeling and so I defined the latter as “guilty.” Why?

Because I have a couple of really bad habits at night. First, I watch TV and fall asleep with the TV on. Ever since an upgrade to our DirecTV system, the bedroom TV sleep timer doesn’t work properly, resulting in less sound sleep. Not good!

Second, I play computer games too late at night. I confess I’m addicted to them. Last night I felt sleepy about an hour before I actually put down the computer! Not good!

My pastor said that to get up early one has to set an alarm to go to bed early. I didn’t realize he meant that literally! But, that is probably what I need to do. Will I heed that alarm at bedtime? The Brits would say, “Not bloody likely.” Perhaps 4 of my alarms should now be set for bedtime? (I do seem to be able to get up early on the first alarm these days. Woot. Woot.)

I feel overwhelmed by all the changes I’m asking of myself and not sure which ones will actually yield the best results, even if I just choose one. I guess I have to just try them in obedience to the Lord and to this experience.

Hopefully, simple obedience will lead to lasting change even if I’m not perfect doing it. Several sources suggest that to build better habits, we need 66 days of practicing those better habits before they become ingrained in our routine, not the typical month-long mantra most espouse.

And interestingly, even if we “fall off the wagon” several times while building better habits, we are better at trying again after several failed attempts. This gives us a much better chance at lasting success. Basically, we are “rewiring” our brains. Thus, I might actually enjoy getting up early by 2025. (I can still have my 2 cups of hazelnut coffee, though, right?)

Putting new habits on my daily to-do list often leads to me actually building habits I am, at first, too lazy to build. By putting them there, a funny thing happens. They eventually become such a well-ingrained habit that I can take them off the to-do list. In putting them on the list, I see the benefits of these habits and want to continue them.

So, on the to-do list today? Put an alarm in my phone for going to bed earlier! And stepping away from the computer. And reading instead of watching TV. I’ll warn you now–if I succeed at all of this today, you may hear a sonic boom if you live nearby.

Friday’s Post: Reviewing The Early to Rise Experience by Andy Traub and the April MIP Book Club Selection Announcement!

You Might Also Like: Early to Rise Experience Day 3; Early to Rise Experience Day 2; and Early to Rise Experience Day 1

This entry was posted on Thursday, March 19th, 2015 at 10:50 am and is filed under God stuff.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.